26 August 2015

Guadalajara de Dia II

MEXICO

Sometimes I am a little worried when I visit the Bushwick/Ridgewood border these days, as the popular taquerias and delis have started jacking up their prices as the new residents start eating there. At this well kept place just over the border in Queens, prices are not rock bottom, but still far from stupid. Quality remains good as well, as their clientele can attest to at any given time.

Like many delis that find a niche serving their customers food instead of canned goods and sodas, they have cleared most of their deli products out of the way in favor of seating for dining inside. The kitchen is in the back instead of part of the room, but I definitely recommend taking a trip to the bathroom to see into the busy space and feel the heat of the grill. The dramatic music from afternoon telenovelas filled the air while we ate our lunch, and the proprietor had his eyes fixed intently on the action between taking orders.

Most places like this have a beer fridge but no liquor license, a quick recipe for a frown on my face. Here, that is not so, and they sell singles to accompany your meal.

An order of picaditas ($7, above) is well paired with tinga, a spicy chicken they do excellently here. Choose their green sauce, and carefully pick up these hard discs or use utensils if you must.

To get a sense of a variety of other meats, we chose three different tacos ($2 each, below), and ended up liking our cecina the best, which was spiced the best and seemed cared for. Barbacoa seems a bit more "goat-y" then usual, so good for people enjoying that meat the most, while the pastor flies very low and is not recommended.

On a normal afternoon, a second round of beers probably would have came out, but this day we had places to go and people to see, and we were back off into the heat. It's good to know that the area can still support some good, honest taquerias.